US Foreign Policy


Ignore the Evidence?

Richard Perle produces a jewel:

Two of President George W. Bushmilitary advisors said that the US inability to find illegal weapons in Iraq means little.
“I don’t think that you can draw any conclusion from the fact that the stockpiles were not found,” Pentagon advisor Richard Perle said…

Hmmm…many of us might think that you can draw some conclusions like: 1) there were not any stockpiles and 2) it is more likely that the administration really did lie when justifiying the war.


Trashing Paul

Earlier today Kevin Drum warned:

BETTER DUCK AND COVER, PAUL….{snip} But then there’s this:

O’Neill, who was asked to resign because of his opposition to the tax cut, says he doesn’t think his tell-all account in this book will be attacked by his former employers as sour grapes. “I will be really disappointed if [the White House] reacts that way,” he tells Stahl. “I can’t imagine that I am going to be attacked for telling the truth.”

He’s got to be kidding. After all this time is he really that clueless about the kind of people he’s dealing with?

And just a few minutes ago from Hesiod:

IT’S STARTING: Drudge has a preview quote from a “White House source” attacking former Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill.
The White House got its “side” of the story into the Washington Post before O’Neill’s interview with Leslie Stall airs on “60 Minutes” tomorrow night.
Good. I hope they piss Paul off even more, and he starts saying all sorts of “crazy” things.

The upcoming week could be a lot of fun.


Is the draft back?

Not exactly what we might think of as the draft but the US is does not have an all volunteer army:

To many of the soldiers whose retirements and departures are on ice, however, stop-loss is an inconvenience, a hardship and, in some cases, a personal disaster. Some are resigned to fulfilling what they consider their patriotic duty. Others are livid, insisting they have fallen victim to a policy that amounts to an unannounced, unheralded draft.

Congress should immediately repeal their mistake:

Congress approved the authority for what became known as stop-loss orders after the Vietnam War, responding to concerns that the military had been hamstrung by the out-rotations of seasoned combat soldiers in Indochina.

In a country based on freedom, on the concepts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness slavery must not be allowed to exist.
Via Talkleft.
Update (12/29): Craig Cheslog has a good post on this. I disagree, though, with one point he makes: While the government has the right to treat our soldiers this way,… Nope, we should not grant the government any such right. The government is our servant not our master.


Libya

Libya has been off my radar for years and for those of us who haven’t been paying any attention to Libya for a long time Qadhafi’s recent fold on WMD’s appear to naturally follow from Bush policy. We are wrong.
Josh Marshall points out that:

The Libya deal looks like an especially good example of the Bush Doctrine in action if you haven’t been paying any attention to Libya for the last dozen years.

Read his short article and the references.
And Juan Cole argues that

… the real reason Qadhafi just folded is economic. And the lesson to be drawn here is that under certain circumstances, economic pressure can work, and remove the need for war.

Lesson: do your homework before locking in your evaluation of a current event.


Joy to the World

Well, maybe. The Philosorapter wanted us to take out Saddam in Gulf 1 but now he’s not as happy as he might have been then:

So no, I’m actually not in ecstasy about Saddam’s capture. It’s not that I don’t despise the guy, and it’s not that I don’t recognize how wonderful it is that he’s history.

Go read the whole thing to see what’s bothering Winston.
Via Nurse Ratched.